Written by

Michael Marot

Associated Press

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer watches his offense during an Oct. 26 game against Penn State. / Greg Bartram/USA TODAY

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WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. — Urban Meyer doesn’t need any reminders about what it feels like to lose.

He also has no intention of discussing it with his players. At this point, there’s no need.

The Buckeyes head to Purdue today on a 20-game winning streak. Meyer hasn’t lost in 35 months, the Buckeyes haven’t lost in almost 22 months and Ohio State won’t face another team with a winning record until traveling to Michigan at the end of November.

That doesn’t mean Meyer or his players can take anything for granted, certainly not if they want to continue building their case to play for the national title.

“We coach very hard, and Lou Holtz said it best: ‘You coach hard when you win.’ When you lose, it’s very fragile and we’re coaching you to come out to practice and you are like, my gosh, you act like the offense is the worst in the country, especially on Tuesdays,” Meyer said. “They’re Bloody Tuesdays around here for a reason.”

The only thing getting bloody lately, however, is Buckeyes’ opponents.

Ohio State (8-0, 4-0) has appeared to be on cruise control, leading the Big Ten in scoring (47.2 points), sacks (20) and turnover margin (plus-8) as it drives toward a second consecutive perfect season.

Purdue (1-6, 0-3), meanwhile, enters on a five-game losing streak and ranked 119th out of 123 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring (13.7). Plus, the Boilermakers are allowing the second-most points in the conference (34.4).

But Meyer knows there’s no reason to overlook a team that has beaten the Buckeyes three of the past four times these teams have met at Ross-Ade Stadium.

The message is clear.

“Going into Purdue is — I was there my freshman year and it didn’t turn out how we wanted it to,” tight end Jeff Heuerman said. “There’s a lot of guys on this team who remember that, in my class. This week is a big week for us. We’ve got something to prove going back to Purdue.”

That’s not good news for a reeling team that already has made a midseason quarterback change and a midseason change from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4.

Here are some things to watch for:

The streak

Meyer’s 20-0 start is the best in college football since Larry Coker opened his career at Miami with 24 consecutive victories — a number he potentially could match in the regular-season finale at Ann Arbor. Meyer hasn’t lost since Nov. 27, 2010, against Florida State, and the Buckeyes haven’t lost since January 2012 against Florida.

Etling effect

This is not how Purdue quarterback Danny Etling envisioned starting his career: replacing Rob Henry in a loss to Northern Illinois, getting blown out 44-7 against Nebraska and shut out at Michigan State. Now after a second bye week, Etling has a chance to show what’s improved. The problem: Purdue’s true freshman is about to face the Big Ten’s best team behind an unproven offensive line.

Miller time

Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller is one of the most dynamic players in college football. Miller will have a chance to show just how versatile he is in this game. The weary Boilermakers’ defense is allowing 192.7 yards rushing per game and has the third-worst pass efficiency defense in the Big Ten. That makes Miller a true double threat.

Cooling down

In this era of high-scoring offenses, Purdue actually is going the opposite direction. The Boilermakers haven’t produced more than 24 points in a game this season. Since hitting the 24-point mark for the second time, in a blowout loss in September to Northern Illinois, Purdue has seen its point total drop from 24 to seven to zero. It can’t get any worse than that against Ohio State. But the Boilers need dozens of points to have any chance of upsetting the Buckeyes.

Hazell eyes

Before taking the Kent State job, Darrell Hazell spent his final six years as an assistant coach at Ohio State. Although he often credits former coach Jim Tressel and Ohio State for molding him into the coach he is today, Hazell will try to beat his former team. Strangely, his tenure at Kent started the same way — with a 1-6 mark. He followed that by winning 15 of his final 19 games. He’ll need a win here to duplicate that turnaround.